Review : Fun for lawyers

In 1992, the US Food and Drug Administration banned silicon breast implants
after public disquiet that they might cause disease. The ban was seen as
confirming the risk. What followed was a tornado of court cases. Of the
$4.25 billion in damages to women who had implants, $1 billion
went, predictably, to the lawyers. Science on Trial by Marcia Angell (Norton,
$27.50, ISBN 0 393 03973 0) raises important issues about the treatment
of scientific evidence in courtrooms told through a gripping story of confusion
and greed.